housing market: Debate Continues Over The Future Role Of Government In Housing
- 08/02/10 01:02 PM
In an op-ed written for the Washington Post, former treasury secretary Hank Paulson says government policies promoting homeownership fueled the housing crisis and, once the market has stabilized, should be dramatically reformed. Specifically, he recommends scaling back both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and reducing subsidies for homeownership. Limiting the availability of subsidies to smaller mortgages or lower-income buyers would reduce the scope of the government's role and lead to less risk to taxpayers and the economy. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker also weighed in on the debate in an article from SmartMoney magazine. Volcker says Fannie Mae and Freddie … (6 comments)
housing market: Housing Recovery to Start in 2011
- 07/30/10 08:15 AM
We are gaining ground slowly. The upcoming financial reform legislation will play a BIG role in how quickly or slowly we do recover. The implementation will be tricky. Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak & Co., says the only way to fix the imbalances in the housing market is to allow time to pass. He believes the market will begin to recover by the middle of next year. Click here to see his intereview on Fox News: http://michaelpond.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/housing-recovery-to-begin-mid-2011/
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housing market: Foreclosures Rise in 75 Percent of Major Metro Areas
- 07/29/10 07:06 AM
Foreclosure activity rose in 75 percent of the nation's top metro areas during the first half of the year compared to 2009. RealtyTrac's Midyear 2010 Metropolitan Foreclosure Market Report shows 154 of the 206 metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more posting year-over-year increases. James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said that, though there are signs that foreclosures have peaked in some of the hardest-hit markets, the fragile stability in the market is threatened by persistently high unemployment. Rick Sharga, also of Realty Trac, feels that there won't be any real price appreciation until 2013. More here, … (0 comments)
housing market: New Home Sales Jump!
- 07/27/10 01:29 PM
Following a record low in May, new home sales surged 23.6 percent in June, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The better than expected recovery is misleading, however. Year-over-year numbers were down 16.7 percent and the sales pace was the second slowest since the Commerce Department began tracking the data in 1963. The median sales price of new houses sold in June was $213,400; the average sales price was $242,900. Also, the estimate of new houses on the market at the end of June was 210,000, a 7.6 month supply at … (0 comments)
housing market: Mixed News On Home Prices
- 07/27/10 09:27 AM
According to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, prices rose 1.3 percent in May from April and 4.6 percent from 2009. But despite the improvement, David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, warned that a broader look at price levels over the past year shows no sign of sustained recovery. Blitzer said that, since the lows of April 2009, the housing market has stabilized at a lower level and has been relatively flat for the past seven months. More here, here, and here.
housing market: Existing Home Sales Fall Less than Expected
- 07/22/10 10:00 AM
Sales of existing homes fell less than economists expected in June, according to a report from The National Association of Realtors. Sales were down 5.1 percent but, despite the downturn, up 9.8 percent from the year before. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said the market is undergoing understandable swings and sales will only return to a healthy level once jobs are created at a sufficient pace. The NAR also reports total housing inventory was up 2.5 percent to 3.99 million homes for sale at the end of June, which represents an 8.9-month supply. More here, here, and here. … (0 comments)
housing market: Interest Rates Hit New Low, Spur Demand
- 07/21/10 03:40 PM
According to The Mortgage Bankers Association's Weekly Applications Survey, the average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages fell to 4.59 percent last week from 4.69 percent the week before. The 0.10 percent drop brought rates to their lowest level since the survey began in 1990 and spurred the first increase in demand in five weeks. The Refinance Index was up 8.6 percent and the seasonally adjusted Purchased Index increased 3.4 percent. Michael Frantantoni, MBA's vice president of research and economics, said refinance activity is up nearly 30 percent over the past four weeks. More here and here. … (2 comments)
housing market: 24 Percent of Sellers Cut in June
- 07/15/10 07:04 AM
Homes with at least one price reduction made up 24 percent of all listings on the market as of July 1, according to real-estate website Trulia.com. The report shows 22 of the top 50 cities experiencing price cuts of 30 percent or more, though the average reduction was unchanged from May at 10 percent the original listing price. Pete Flint, co-founder and CEO of Trulia, says buyers definitely have the upper hand as more and more sellers are reducing their prices to attract attention. More here, here, and here. … (2 comments)
housing market: Report Shows Yearly Price GAIN for Fourth Straight Month!
- 07/13/10 12:29 PM
CoreLogic, an analytics and real estate services provider, released a report showing national home prices up in May. According to the CoreLogic's home price index, prices rose 2.9 percent from a year ago and 0.9 percent from the month before. Distressed sales, or homes 75 percent below the median, are fueling the increases. Still, Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, says the stabilization is temporary and expects prices to moderate and possibly decline the rest of the year due to continuing trouble in the labor market. More here and here.
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housing market: Apartment vacancies drop for the first time in nearly 3 years
- 07/12/10 08:11 AM
According to Reis Inc., a New-York based real estate research firm, the apartment vacancy rate dropped to 7.8 percent in the second quarter. The drop was the first in nearly three years and down from a 30-year high in the first quarter. The report also shows that rents rose 0.4 percent, the second consecutive quarterly rent increase. Rent is a leading indicator for housing, as higher rents make homeownership more attractive. More here and here. … (2 comments)
housing market: To boost quality, Fannie Mae calls for experienced appraisers
- 07/12/10 04:30 AM
Fannie Mae will require underwriters use the value provided by appraisers. If they do not agree with the value they will be required to order a 2nd appraisal instead of cutting the value on their own. This change will help our industry overall. It isn't a problem for us here at Primary Capital. We choose our appraisers to make sure they are local, experienced and know OUR market. We are still HVCC compliant because we order randomly from our approved list. The national appraisal companies are the worst. I am optimistic that common sense will return to our industry soon! This is … (0 comments)
housing market: FINALLY! It's official. The President signs the tax credit extension bill
- 07/08/10 05:46 PM
President Obama signed a bill extending the homebuyer tax credit's deadline for closing sales under contract by April 30. The legislation officially extends the deadline to qualify for the tax credit from June 30 to September 30. The bill only allows buyers with signed contracts to complete the sale at the later date. The National Association of Realtors estimated nearly 180,000 buyers would've missed the deadline without the extension. More here, here, and here. Thanks to my team's On Time Closing GUARANTEE (see details on my main AR page) none of our customers needed to worry about this extension! Does your … (3 comments)
housing market: Foreclosures 31 Percent of all First 1st Quarter Sales
- 07/07/10 02:40 AM
A total of 232,959 properties in some stage of foreclosure sold to third parties in the first quarter of 2010. According to RealtyTrac's U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report, 31 percent of all residential sales were foreclosure homes and the average sales price of those homes was nearly 27 percent below homes not in the foreclosure process. Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac, said only 1 to 2 percent of home sales are foreclosures in a normal market. The report shows foreclosure sales decreased 14 percent from the previous quarter and 33 percent from the peak during the first quarter of 2009. … (0 comments)
housing market: Tax Credit Lag Hits HARD. Pending Home Sales Drop 30%
- 07/06/10 02:51 AM
According to The National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index, the number of signed sales contracts dropped 30 percent in May. The plunge follows three months of gains driven by the homebuyer tax credit. Year-over-year, the index was down 15.9 percent. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, blamed the sharp decline on the rush to meet the tax credit deadline in April. Yun expects June's existing-home sales to remain elevated but to drop significantly in July and August. More here, here, here, and here. … (2 comments)
housing market: Housing market is on the rebound
- 07/02/10 10:42 AM
Greg Rand, of Rand Realty, says short-term housing stats don't accurately portray what he believes is an upward, long-term trend in the market. The tax credit rush is over so the market has naturally slowed down but we are on track when you look at the YTD numbers of buyers. Click here to see the video/interview: http://michaelpond.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/housing-market-on-the-rebound/
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housing market: Educate your buyers on the new conventional requirements
- 06/25/10 02:56 PM
Loan Quality Initiative In response to Fannie Mae's LL 2010-02, we will be implementing guidelines and procedures to ensure compliance with LQI. This will be a work in progress. Expect fine tuning along the way. This applies to loan applications taken on or after June 1st and will only apply to conventional conforming loans. Undisclosed Debt We will be doing a soft pull credit report during the 24 hours prior to closing. If there is significant change to balances or additional credit we would then need to rescore and run through the AUS system and reevaluated by underwriting. This could affect … (4 comments)
housing market: Altos Price Index Sees First Increase in 9 Months
- 06/21/10 06:36 AM
According to Altos Research's 10-City Composite Price Index, May saw a 0.2 percent increase in the median sales price of single-family existing homes. It was the first increase since July 2009 and 6.1 percent below last year's peak. The index is based on prices in Denver, Washington D.C., Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Miami, and Las Vegas. Altos also reports that national inventory is 10 percent lower year-over-year but has been growing throughout the spring. More here and here. … (0 comments)
housing market: Mortgage Fraud Task Force Arrests Hit 485
- 06/18/10 08:01 AM
The FBI started a mortgage fraud crack down on 3/1/10 which has led to 485 arrests so far. This includes 10 recent arrests in Charlotte, NC where I lend. The industry cannot achieve normacy until the entire process is transparent and parties are accountable for the quality they deliver to the market. See full article on Housing Wire: http://www.housingwire.com/2010/06/17/mortgage-fraud-task-force-arrests-485-in-sweeping-crackdown
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housing market: Housing Starts and the Recovery
- 06/18/10 06:48 AM
Billy Procida, president of real-estate firm William Procida Inc., believes the excess housing inventory will be absorbed over the next few years but doesn't foresee significant gains in pricing. Click link to see interview clip: http://michaelpond.wordpress.com/2010/06/18/housing-starts-and-the-recovery/ … (0 comments)
housing market: Farkas of Taylor, Bean and Whitaker set to be made the example
- 06/18/10 06:13 AM
Former Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. chairman Lee Farkas is being held pending a pre-trail hearing. He is being accused of a 1.9 billion dollar fraud against investors, HUD and the tax payers (using TARP funds). If convicted he will spend the rest of his life in jail. Read more about it here. The stage is set to make him the example for the industry abuses and excess. Abuses should be addressed and those who have done wrong must be held accoutable. But this will have a negative effect on the industry causing an over reaction and further tightening on … (0 comments)
In an op-ed written for the Washington Post, former treasury secretary Hank Paulson says government policies promoting homeownership fueled the housing crisis and, once the market has stabilized, should be dramatically reformed. Specifically, he recommends scaling back both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and reducing subsidies for homeownership. Limiting the availability of subsidies to smaller mortgages or lower-income buyers would reduce the scope of the government's role and lead to less risk to taxpayers and the economy. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker also weighed in on the debate in an article from SmartMoney magazine. Volcker says Fannie Mae and Freddie … (6 comments)
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